No Country for Tim Sharma

The New Love of my Life: The Fiery Furnaces!

2009-03-04T06:42:00.000-08:00

Yes it had to happen sooner or later. After grieving from the loss of the Minutemen and Frank Zappa (I know, random, huh?) I didn't think I'd find a new love. I searched the stores and the internet like a lost, lonely lover, like Shane McGowan in some drunk romantic song. I'd gotten bored with so much music, it was thirsty for more. then I got a cd in the mail, randomly from my friend Eli. It was a mix compilation of this band called the Fiery Furnaces. Most of the tracks come from their debut album the "Gallowsbird's Bark" (2003). All of a sudden I heard the sound I had been waiting for.

the band is essentially made of two members: Matt and Eleanor Freidberger, a brother sister team hailing originally from Oak Park, Illinois. While they are the only two permanent members of this band, there are several live and studio musicians that make repeated appearances on their albums, most notably, their studio drummer (who I believe was Bob D'Amico for many of the albums, but I'm not sure).

The music on the albums varies widely on the albums from the live performances. The music on the albums has a very Devo-esque post-modern sound, much of it electronic based or supersaturated with effects, while the live performances keep with a very 70's garage rock aesthetic. Also, whereas there are very definite distinctions between songs on the albums, in live performance, the songs all sort of mesh together into one extended song. I think the reason the live performances are so different from the studio performances is that so much of the recordings are dependant on sound manipulation that cannot occur live. It's incredible though, because it makes seeing them a completely different experience from listening to their music, almost to the extent that you feel like they are two different bands. They've got a really creative sound that melds so many different sounds into a melange of music that is distinctly their own.

The first album for the uninitiated listener would be their debut album "The Gallowsbird's Bark". It is by far their most accessible record. The songs range from 2 to 4 minutes in length and feature non of the idiosyncratic blurps and beeps and wicker whatnots of their later albums. The notable songs from this album are "South Is Only a Home", "I'm Gonna Run", "Bow Wow" and "Tropical Ice-Land".

The next album I'd recommend is "Widow City". This has more of a seventies rock feel, much like their live performances. There is a very linear quality to the songwriting. It bursts and blasts with guitar zeal and the drums are the finest I've heard on any of their records. My favorite tracks from this album are "Clear Signal from Cairo", "Ex-Guru", "Navy Nurse" (featured on the soundtrack to the film "Choke"), and "Restorative Beer", but virtually every track on this album is a gem.

All of their albums are great and I haven't hit that moment with them yet where I find their music repetitive or dull. It may happen, I certainly hope not, but I'm still in the honeymoon stage with this band and I intend on stayting that way as long as I can.

Oh, another interesting note about this band: they recorded an album about and narrated by their grandmother Olga Sarantos shortly before her death in December of 2007. The album is full of so much heart and emotion, it is definitely a keeper, if a little more difficult to absorb than the aformentioned albums. Definitely give it a listen

Coldplay to release single from new album for free; Does anyone care?

2008-05-14T07:14:00.000-07:00

No really, does anyone?

I saw in the wasington post express this morning that coldplay plans on releasing the first single from their new album for a free download from their website. All I could think of was, who listens to Coldplay these days? Actually the first thought that sprang into my head was that it kind of reminds me of Radiohead releasing their latest album for whatever price you think it's worth from their website. The second thought that popped in my head was, "I don't know anyone that admits to listening to Coldplay. Maybe I don't know a lot of peopel, granted. but c'mon, COLDPLAY? I know I should come up with a more astute response than this, but all I can think to add is, "c'mon, Coldplay sucks."

so yeah....uh....that's that. Coldplay sucks, and even if they release their whole album for free on the internet, people STILL won't download it, cause you can't polish a turd.

The Cave Singers

2008-04-17T13:01:00.000-07:00

So I have been getting into this band lately called the Cave Singers. They are pretty dope and I would recommend anyone reading this to at least check them out on youtube....they have a few things there. They are signed on Matador records, the label that released Pretty Girls Make Graves when they were still around. I mention this becuase the bassist from Pretty Girls Make Graves is the guitar player for this band.
The band itself is a three-piece, with Derek Fudesco playing the nylon string guitar, and Marty Lund providing the percussion. The real exception to your typical indie-trio is Pete Quirk (a very apt surname) who is the singer and lyricist for the band. He plays melodica, harmonica, and whatever percussive instruments are needed to fill out the sound. And fill out the sound he does.
I heard about this band in a very random way; well random for me at least. I have been a big Pretty Girls Make Graves fan since '02 when they released their self-titled debut. They went on to release two more albums under Matador records before eventually calling it quits amid conflict within the band (i'm assuming that part. Isn't that why all bands eventually break up???), forming a spawn of bands in their wake. I've always been partial to the bass player, so this was the first stop I made in rediscovering my life after Pretty Girls Make Graves. I expected to hear some sort of neo-dance/indie type band. The kind with fashionable hair....the kind that is so big right now. What I got was so much more.
The band posts in their bio page on matador reecords that, "They never listened to much folk music, they never intended to play folk music, and more importantly, their guitarist never picked up the instrument until recently." I think that definitely comes across in their music. I would not label this as simply "folk". Having elements of a certain style and being a part of that genre are two very different things, and folk musicians and fans have very strict criteria for labeling something as "folk" (that is AMERICAN folk, as opposed to European folk, Irish folk, Japanese folk and the myriad other types of folk music, each with their own instruments and sensibilities). The band AT LEAST has developed a unique style that could not be put into an easy category. This is probably what attracts them to me.
The first song I heard of theirs, was a tune called "Dancing On Our Graves." Like many Pretty Girls Make Graves' songs this one has haunting lyrics punctuated by a jaunty guitar hook that provides the backbone of the song. Fudesco seems to be happiest as the backbone of a song, he played that part so well in Pretty Girls Make Graves. Fudesco is not what attracts me to this song though. The singing by Pete Quirk is really what gives this song its edge. He seems to be channeling the spirit of some bygone minertown preacher, warning all those who enter his bizarre ghost town to pay heed. He adds an element of soul to the song, which would otherwise sound something like a heartbeat trying to catch up to itself.
the other songs I've heard of theirs are decent enough to warrant buyign the whole album, but nothing matches up to the intensity of "Dancing On Our Graves"

obligatory friday blog

2008-04-11T14:00:00.000-07:00

So here is a quote from a book I'm reading. It is, to me at least, the most beautiful description of the deadly force of a virus on the body. it comes from a book called The Blue Death by Dr. Robert Morris copyright, 2007, HarperCollinsPublishers. pg 80-81

"The bacteria in her small intestine had spent much of the day doubling, and redoubling. As the Vibrio cholerae multiplied, they busily manufactured a deadly poison. The toxin targeted the switches in the lining of the intestine that controlled the flow of bicarbonate, jamming them into the "on" position. Susannah Eley could not notice the initial trickle of fluid that seeped into her gut. but as the numbers of bacteria grew, vast quantities of bicarbonate began to flow into the widow's small intestine.
By hacking into the signal pathways of her digestive system, the bacteria created a surging torrent of acid-neutral fluid, full of nutrients in which they could grow and reproduce. what had been the machinery of digestion became a factory for the production of billions upon billions of pathogens that rode the flood of bicarbonate out into the world in search of other victims. It was not the bacteria, but the river they created that would kill her."

Quote for the day

2008-04-08T11:05:00.000-07:00

"We live to discover beauty; all else is a form of waiting." -Khalil Gibran

This is a quote that has stuck in my mind since I first saw it, sometime around 1999. The world was such a different place then, which is strange to think about. Before the world trade towers fell. Before george bush. I was in college in Washington, D.C., my sophomore or junior year. Back then I used to walk from american university, which is at 4400 Mass Ave, to SoHo Tea and Coffee in Dupont circle. there i would write in my journal, put off work, and peopel watch in general. It was a really good place to peopel watch, I remember, because of the bizarreness of the people who would frequent that particular establishment. One particular night, I was walking down Massachussetts Ave., passed the vice president's house at the naval observatory, but not very far. across the street in fact. There's not much there really. On that side of the street, you won't find much to look at, it overlooks a particularly rough patch of Rock Creek Park, but at one point, right before a mosque in fact, there is a little clearing, with the copper bust of a poet surrounded by some copper birds. the poet is Khalil Gibran. At the cente rof the structure is a small fountain, with some benches surrounding it. One each bench is a different quotation, about the nature of love or life, which is often the subject of Gibran's work. this particular quote struck me. "We live to discover beauty; all else is a form of waiting." I wrote it down in my journal, stopped to rest, then walked back down to Dupont.

I think this quote has underscored my life since then. It gave me a purpose. Call me a romantic, but I believe it's true. Beauty is this thing, more and idea really than anything else. Superficially, it should mean nothing. Beauty doesn't pay your bills, make your breath fresh, or add years to your life. It's necessity isn't apparent in any logical sense, but for some reason, we are all drawn to it. However we define beauty, we seek it out in between whatever functions are necesary for our routine survival. Maybe because there is nothign routine about beauty. Survival is what keeps us alive. Beauty is why we stay alive. Maybe I'm full of shit. As far as having an ethos goes, I would rather follow love or beauty than what a religion says.

Haters

2008-04-07T10:10:00.000-07:00

So I was just watching this radiohead video on youtube, and there was this long thread of posts devoted to hating on this band Panic at the Disco. Now admittedly, I haven't really listened to them, so if they completely suck, someone call me out on it, but the reason I'm bringing this up is to make this point: If you think you can do better, than show me! No, you mean you're just another dude sitting in a cubicle who finished his sandwich early and has a half hour to kill?
I'll make it personal. I don't like fall out boy. I, in fact hate them. I think they are worthless. But you know what, I can't play better than them, so I'm not gonna talk this big game about how shitty their music is, cause you know what, if I put something out, it's probably gonna sound worse.

OK, just wanted to get this off my chest. I just started this blog this instant, and found myself at a loss for anything better to say. In the future, things will be funnier I promise.